CrowdIntelComparison
CrowdIntel vs Synthesis: investigation product vs unified trading API
Synthesis is a unified API for Polymarket and Kalshi — build wallets, place orders, stream data. CrowdIntel is a browseable investigation product for end users, journalists, and researchers. Different products, different buyers.
Short answer
Synthesis (synthesis.trade) is a unified prediction-market API covering Polymarket and Kalshi. Its docs confirm core capabilities: create wallets, place orders, stream real-time data, and manage positions, with WebSocket support for live balances, orderbooks, and trade data. Authentication supports three methods: Project API Keys (backend), Session Tokens (frontend), and Account API Keys (backend user operations). CrowdIntel is a browseable investigation product — it indexes Polymarket trades, runs a multi-signal statistical engine, traces funding graphs, and publishes named investigations. Use Synthesis if you're building your own trading app across venues; use CrowdIntel if you want the investigation layer someone else already built.
Side by side
| Criterion | CrowdIntel | Synthesis |
|---|---|---|
| Primary audience | Traders, journalists, researchers | Developers building on prediction markets |
| Interface | Browseable web dashboard | REST + WebSocket API |
| Venues covered | Polymarket only | Polymarket + Kalshi |
| Investigation dossiers | Yes — published case file | No — raw data only |
| Funding-graph analysis | Yes | Not advertised |
| Shrinkage win rate | Yes | Raw stats only |
| Order placement | No (research only) | Yes |
| Auth methods | Free browsing, no keys | Project API Keys, Session Tokens, Account API Keys |
| Public pricing | Free | Check synthesis.trade for API tier pricing |
Choose CrowdIntel if you want…
- •A finished investigation product — browseable dossiers and published cases
- •An independent research layer you can read and cite
- •Funding-graph tracing and shrinkage-adjusted win rates out of the box
- •Something to share, not an API to integrate
Choose Synthesis if you want…
- •A single API covering Polymarket and Kalshi — no custom indexer required
- •Create wallets, place orders, and manage positions programmatically
- •WebSocket streams for live balances, orderbooks, and trade data
- •Flexible auth: project keys for backends, session tokens for frontends, account keys for user operations
- •Building your own app, bot, or agent on prediction-market rails
Frequently asked
Are CrowdIntel and Synthesis direct competitors?
Partial overlap. Both touch Polymarket wallet data. Synthesis is primarily a trading API and developer platform; CrowdIntel is a finished research dashboard. If you're building your own app, Synthesis is the lower-level tool. If you want to read investigations, CrowdIntel is the higher-level one.
Does Synthesis cover Kalshi?
Yes — Synthesis exposes unified endpoints for Polymarket and Kalshi. CrowdIntel is Polymarket-only because Polymarket's on-chain data is what enables the wallet forensics we do.
Can I power my own product with Synthesis and read CrowdIntel alongside?
Yes, and that's a reasonable pairing. Ingest data via Synthesis; use CrowdIntel as a research layer your users can navigate to for context.
See the Polymarket data yourself
CrowdIntel indexes every on-chain Polymarket trade — 72M+ and counting. Browse whales, watch insider alerts, and read public funding-cluster investigations. Free, no login.